The invention relates to vehicle seats and particularly to seats which have a reclining seat back. An example of such a seat is shown in my co-pending patent application Ser. No. 244,514, filed Mar. 16, 1981, and entitled, "Seat Reclining Mechanism", the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Although certain reclining mechanisms permit a rather wide range of adjustment of the angle of recline, there are certain situations where one might wish to limit the maximum angle of recline. For example, manufacturers of suspension seats commonly produce a variety of seat models which have characteristics suitable for various uses such as heavy trucks, off-the-road vehicles, and agricultural tractors, to name a few. The seats which are suitable for heavy trucks, for example, should preferably be constructed so as to provide, at a reasonable cost, the type of vibration isolation and freedom from maintenance desired by most vehicle manufacturers. The cost can best be minimized by designing the same seat to fit all vehicles. However, a wide variation in the interior dimensions of the cabs of various vehicles produced by different manufacturers, and often by the same manufacturer, makes this task difficult, if not impossible. For example, one cab might have sufficient space behind the driver's seat to accommodate a seat back reclined to a 40.degree. angle, while another might produce interference at a 20.degree. angle. The seat back must be spaced from the back wall to accommodate the free vertical movement of the seat suspension without rubbing, since rubbing would not only cause rapid destruction of the seat back, but would greatly reduce the ability of the suspension to isolate vibrations. Where fixed means are used to limit or stop the maximum recline angle, it is often necessary for a vehicle manufacturer to purchase some seats having one limit position and others with other limit positions. Alternatively, the vehicle manufacturer might prefer to weld the stop element in position as part of his operation. Obviously, the maximum recline angle a vehicle manufacturer can allow is one where the rear cab wall will be cleared with the seat at the maximum rearward setting of the fore and aft adjustment mechanism. However, where a seat is always to be occupied by a person who prefers a forward seat position, a permanently fixed rear stop position of the seat recliner will waste space that could be used for a greater angle of recline.